Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows #3

The third chapter of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez's Crown of Shadows arc pulls no punches: Gabriel Rodriguez's cover puts a young boy — teeth gritted, eyes wide with desperate defiance — being swallowed by a churning mass of shadowy, clawed creatures, with an ornately decorated dark figure looming close behind him. The suffocating darkness pressing in from every angle makes the boy's pale, determined face all the more striking at the center of the composition. If this 2010 series has been on your radar, issue #3 is a vivid reminder of why Rodriguez's artwork gives Locke & Key such an unsettling, unforgettable atmosphere.